Table Layout Advice
The Seating Plan A traditional wedding breakfast will have the wedding party seated at a Top Table. This will be facing the wedding guests, who would be seated at round or square tables, spread appropriately throughout the room. The Top Table Assigning seats on the top Table can be a sensitive task and tradition can prove to be a good excuse for your final arrangements. Typically, the top table would consist of the Groom, his Best Man, his Father and Mother, the Bride, her Chief Bridesmaid and her Father and Mother.
This would be different in the case of a second marriage, or if parents have been divorced and remarried. Whilst the traditional approach provides an element of guidance, it is important to remember that this is your day and that you should seat those who mean the most to you at your Top Table - if, of course you are having one! The GuestsRemember! At the time of the Wedding Breakfast, the Bride may have taken the Groom's surname. Make sure that the table plan reflects this. This is your chance for those friends and family members who may not have met yet to get to know each other. Don't sit large groups of friends and family together in their usual groups; encourage their socialising and mix it up a bit. It is always an idea to sit people on a table with at least one or two others they may know already and you should try and sit people who may have similar interests together to encourage conversation. Of course you should sit those who may have a history of indifference apart; this isn't the time to risk a forced reconciliation! Make sure that pregnant guests or those with small children, and elderly or disabled guests are seated close and with easy access to the toilets and other facilities they may require. Make sure that they are seated at tables that will remain in place all night and away from any loud speakers! Table numbers or names? Some people like to name their tables rather than applying a simple number system. Table names will generally have some significance to the wedding, possibly the towns from where the families hale, or the names of the bride's flowers. The couple's past times could be used for inspiration, for example the mountains they have climbed, or the bands they have seen. Other more novelty ideas are also common, such as football teams or types of cocktail. However you decide to lay out your table plan; Top Table or not, square, round or rectangular tables, 5 people per table or 15, table names or numbers, or variations based on culture or religion, our easy-to-use interactive design pages will be able to accommodate your requirements. |
